MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Falkland Islands praises British Foreign Office
Falklands'Councillor Mike Summers has praised the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office for their “unwavering message” on sovereignty.
Giving evidence in London to the Foreign Office Select Committee which is conducting an enquiry into the efficacy of the organisation's management of British Overseas Territories, Councillor Summers said, "The Falkland Islands Government are happy with UK Government statements on sovereignty over the Falkland Islands going back a number of years now. "The current Prime Minister and his predecessor have been very robust in saying that the UK does not doubt the sovereignty and independence of the Falkland Islands, and that there should be no discussion of sovereignty unless the people of the Falklands so wish. That has been a strong, coherent and unwavering message, and in our circumstances the consistency of that message is crucial." Councillor Summers was replying to Sir John Stanley who had asked, "The Foreign Office, it must be said, had a pretty appalling track record under the previous Conservative Government-of which I was a member in different Ministries from time to time-in terms of standing up for the sovereignty and independence of the Falkland Islands people. Do you feel that the Foreign Office has learned those lessons, and is it now sufficiently robust in protecting the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands?" Sir John Stanley also enquired whether the Falklands Government felt, "?that present arrangements for the demarcation of fishing rights between the Falkland Islands and Argentina are stable and satisfactory, and that they properly protect the Falkland Islands' fishing rights?" Councillor Summers said, "The boundaries between the Falklands and Argentina, where they exist, are well known to us. There have been some instances relatively recently where vessels that thought they were fishing legally on the high seas have been arrested by Argentina and caused to make some payment to be released. It is a matter for international debate. How the Argentine Government delimit their outer area is not entirely clear to everybody and seems to be open to some interpretation. That cannot be satisfactory, but we are entirely clear about where the boundaries lie between us and Argentina in areas where they are contiguous." Councillor Summers noted that as far as he was aware the Foreign Office were not active in attempting to resolve the disputed areas. Sir John Stanley also noted that the British Government were taking some "?interesting initiatives-including in the United Nations, it appears-to claim oil and gas rights in areas around the world where the UK has particular continental shelf rights." He asked Councillor Summers, "Do you feel that the Foreign Office is doing all it reasonably can to protect oil and gas rights in the Falkland Islands and the adjacent South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands?" Councillor Summers replied, "In conjunction with the Foreign Office and other UK institutions, we have undertaken study of the continental shelf extending eastwards, in particular, from the Falkland Islands to establish whether continental shelf extension can legitimately be claimed. The results of that investigation seem to suggest that it can, and we are satisfied that the British Government and their institutions are preparing that claim. It goes largely to the east, and not much to the north and west, which deals with some potential difficulties. It is our understanding that that claim, along with those for other British territories, will be made to the United Nations convention on the law of the sea in due course. I regret that I cannot speak on behalf of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, over which we have had no jurisdiction since the 1985 constitution." Falklands councillors and members of the public will have the opportunity to submit further information to the Select Committee when its members travel to the Falklands in the final week of February 2008. Councillor Summers confirmed to MercoPressthat the enquiry was a standard parliamentary procedure. The last occurred around eight years ago. The Foreign Affairs Committee is responsible for scrutinizing the "administration, expenditure and policy" of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its associated agencies. Committee meetings are open to the public and are held at the House of Commons Committee Rooms. The membership of the Committee is as follows: Mike Gapes (Chairman), Labour, Mr Fabian Hamilton, Labour, Mr David Heathcoat-Amory, Conservative, Mr John Horam, Conservative, Mr Eric Illsley, Labour, Mr Paul Keetch, Liberal Democrats, Andrew Mackinlay, Labour, Mr Malcolm Moss, Conservative, Sandra Osborne, Labour, Mr Greg Pope, Labour, Mr Ken Purchase, Labour, Rt Hon Sir John Stanley, Conservative, Ms Gisela Stuart, Labour, Richard Younger-Ross, Liberal Democrats. The Foreign Affairs Committee held its first evidence session for its inquiry into the Overseas Territories on Monday 3 December. The Committee is considering the exercise by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of its responsibilities in relation to the Overseas Territories and the FCO's achievements against its Strategic Priority No. 10, the security and good governance of the Overseas Territories. In the evidence session the Committee heard the view of territory governments, on the eve of the annual Overseas Territories Consultative Council at the FCO. By Lisa Johnston – SeAled PR - Stanley
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